Filament-drying apparatus



Nov. 13, 1928.

s. A. NEIDICH FILAMENT DRYING APPARATUS Filed June 5. 1926 FIG].

Si n, k

. Patented Nov. 13, 192d.

"(UNITE-D STA SAMUEL a. NEIDIOH, o1;- nncnwn'rna max, New mnsny.

'IiLAMEKT-DBYINQ arraaa'rus.

Application filed June 5,

My invention relates to the manufacture of filamentsfrom viscose(cellulose sulpgocarbonate or thiocarbonateg and may employedwithparticular a vantage 1n the roduction of coarse filaments such asarti cial horse hair. 1

Liquid viscose may be coagulated or preci itated to form 'a gelatinoussemi-solid cellulose hydrate complex byprogressively extruding a str amof itinto a heated at- 'mosphere or in an aqueous solution con-,

' taimng a suitable acid, for instance, sul- 'cordance with'the natureof the coa phuric or hydrochloric acid, or containing an acid salt suchas sodium bi-sulphlte or am- 'monium chloride either with or withoutneutral salts or dehydrators, or both. Such colloid filaments are amorhous and more or less soft and impressiona 1e, in acmedium to which theyhave been sujec'ted; for instance, an acid coagulatlng medium has agreater initial hardening'effect than a salt coagulatin medium. Whensoft, such a filament may s deformed by contact with tself insuccessiveconvolutions and have slight 1ndentations thus formed therein whichdetract from its commercial value when dried, be-

noticeable in comparison with the portions of the filament which aresmoothly cylindncal and uniformly lustrous. Consequently, when it isdesired toform such filaments of uniform cross section free fromindentations it is un-.

desirable to wind themin the usual" way directlylupon-bobbins or othersimilar holders because if wound on such containers the stresses fromthe shrinkage in dr ing produces detrimental marks on the un er layers.

Therefore, I devised a filament drying apparatus which is the subjectmatter of Letters Patent of the United States 1,56 8,686. granted to meJanuary 5, 1926; including a reel and means for directing'such a softfilament singly in a helically spaced coil thereon said reel being ofsuch extent that the initial end of the filament became dried'befo'rethe final end thereof was wound upon the reel;

- so that the operation of unwinding each piece of filament might-bebegun as soon as the windingoperation thereof was completed and, theoperation of unwinding a preceding dried filament might be effectedsimultanes ously with the operation of winding a succeeding wet filamentupon the same reel; such operatlon being practically continuous,under'normal conditions, as it is'only momenlating 1926. Serial No.113,869.

Although such construction and erations efiected thereby become anundesirable 11m1t1ng factor in the quantity production of the driedfilament. For instance, with a reel of such size as to hold fivethousand yards of a filament thus wound singly; only seven pounds ofsuch filament may twenty-four consecutive hours. I '1: erefore, theobject and effect of my present lnvention is to utilize reeling mechansm of the general character disclosed in said Letters Patent to effectthe drying of a larger quantity of filaments in a glven time than ispossible with the means and methods described in said Letters Patent. Bythe means and methods described herein; twenty pounds of such filamentsmay be dried in twenty-four hours by the use of a reel of the samecapacity heretofore capable of drying seven pounds.

accordance with my present invention; I precipitate the extruded viscosefilaments with coagulating means capable of impartbe dried. in

ing the greatest possible initial hardness to ments singly,'I aggregatesuch a plurality of filaments as to form a massive skein, which, whenwound upon the reel',.forms a band say three inches wide. Such a skeinis helically woundupon the reel from end to end thereof until the reelischarged with a mass of filament several inches thick. The"reel beingcontinuously rotated in thesame direction until the entire massoffilaments are dried; the filaments may then be unwound by reversing thedirection of rotation of the reel and without tangling the filaments.

My invention includes the various novel features of construction andarrangement" hereinafter more definitel specified.

In'said drawings; Fig. is a diagrammaticend View of a filament dryingapparatus'convenientl embodying my improvement.

Fig. I is a diagrammatic side elevation of r the apparatus shown in Fig.I.

In said figures; 1 indicates a skein composed of an aggregate of singlefilaments of gelatinous semi-solid cellulose hydrate v indicated..Whereupon,-the last end of said formed by extruding viscose into acoagulatmg medium and still moist with 'the water and other liquidcontents of theoriginal viscose and the coagulating medium. For

instance, each of said filaments may be adapted to form a four hundredfifty denier artificial horse hair and is about twice the 7 diameterwhen moist that it will be when it is dried. The number of saidfilaments in said skein is such that the skein spreads into a band aboutthree inches wide as it passes over-the guide roller 2 and on to thereel 3.

Saidreel comprises opposite end frames, 5 rigidly mounted upon the shaft6 and rigidly connected b the circumferential series of slats 8. Sa1dshaft 6 of the open reel thus formed is so journaled as to be freelyrotated by the electric motor 10 which has the puley 11 driving the belt12 extending around the distal end. wheel frame 5 as indicated 'in Fig.I, and may be reversed bythe switch 13.- The normal speed of rotation ofsaid reel is so great that it would continue to turn to an undesirableextent, after the operation of saidmotor is stopped, unless means y beprovidedto check it. Therefore, I prefer to provide a brake band 14which is fastened at its rear end to the support 15, extends thence overthe circumference of one of said upon said reel, which is thus chargedwith a mass of filaments several inches thick, as

skein may be secured to said reel and the latter continuously rotated,in one direction,

.at high speed; say with a circumferential speed of four hundred untilthe filament is drie rotation of the reel ma be stopped and the gardsper minute,

I ends of the individual laments be connected 'to respective bobbins 18which-may be simultaneously but independently rotated by an suitablemeans, for instance, belts 19, so that said filaments are separately butsimultaneouslywound upon said bobbins as they are unwound from said reelwhich then turns in the opposite direction tothat in which it wasrotatedwhen said skein was wound thereon.

I find it possible to repeat the complete cycle of operation aforesaideighteen times 7 in twenty-four hours thus drying an average of twentypounds per day on each such reel.

I'find it convenient; to use a viscose containing twelve percentof.cellulos e in hydrated formand, as above indicated; the dr ing 0eration. aforesaid causes the initial y moist filaments to shrink toabout fifty percent of Thereupon, the

their original volume. r If the filaments were initiall wound uponindividual bobbins; such s rinkage would cause detrimental marking ofthe filaments by the pressure of the successive convolutions of thefilaments upon each other. However, the stresses of such shrinkage areso distributed and dissipated in the mass of filaments drying upon thereel in a skein as aforesaid that such detrimental marks are avoided.

Although I have found it convenient to employ an embodiment of myinvention as above described; I do not desire to limit myself to theprecise detailsof construction and arrangement herein set forth, as theessential feature of my invention is the winding of a large number "offilaments together and simultaneously in helically axially s acedconvolutions, in which they are expos to a drying atmosphere, andthereafter unwinding saidfilaments simultaneously but separately, sothat they are not tangled together, and it is obvious that variousmodifications may be made in the apparatus without departing from theessential features of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In filament drying apparatus; the combination with an open reel; ofmeans arranged to rotate said reel selectively in opposite directions;means arranged to singly direct and assemble a plurality ofwe'tfilaments in a sin le skein 0r,band upon said reel,at one end thereof,and distribute the same in helical convolutions by reciprocationparallel with the axis of said reel, while rotating said reel in onedirection; means arranged to rotate said reel at increased speed whencharged, to dry said filaments and means arranged to withdraw the driedfilaments, in reverse direction, singly and separately butsimultaneously from said reel, and contemporaneously wind each of saidfilaments singly and separately upon respective bobbins while rotatingsaid reel in the op-' posite direction.

2. In filament drying apparatus; the-combination with an open reel; ofmeans ar- 1 ranged to rotate said reel selectively in o y positedirections; means arranged to sing y direct and assemble a plurality ofwet filaments in a single skein or band upon sa1d reel, at one endthereof, and distribute the same in helicalconvolutions while rotatingsaid reel in one direction, and including a guide arranged toreciprocate parallel with the axis of said reel; means arranged torotate said reel at increased speed when charged, to dr said filaments;and means arranged to wit Lgiraw the dried filaments, in reversedirection, singly and separately but simultaneously from sa1d reel andcontemporaneously wind each of said filaments singly and separately uponrespective bobbins while rotating said reel inthe opposite direction.

3. In filament drying apparatus; the combination with an open reel; ofmeans arranged to rotate said reel selectively in opposite directions;means arranged to singly 5 direct and assemble a plurality of wetfilaments in a single skein or band upon said reel, at one end thereof,and distribute the same in helical convolutions while rotating said reelin one direction; means arranged to rotate 10 said reel when charged, todry said filaments;

and means arranged to withdraw the dried filaments, in reversedirection, singly and separately but simultaneously from said reel andcontemporaneously wind each of said filaments singly and separatelywhile rotating said reel in the opposite direction.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name at Burlington, NewJersey,

this 13th day of April, 1926.

' SAMUEL A. NEIDIOH.

